Your
Etymological Queries Answered

From
Brailey Stetson:

I was wondering if the words
cult and occult are related.

We are asked this question about three times a
year so it's about time we answered it. And the answer is
"no". Cult comes from the Latin cultus meaning
"worship" and is related to cultivate. Occult
comes from the Latin occultus meaning "hidden" and is related
to occluded. The reasons for assuming a connection lie in
very recent developments in the meanings of the words cult and occult.
Within the last forty years, cult has become a derogatory term
for any religion one wishes to disparage and occult is commonly used to
mean such things as magic, astrology and fortune-telling. This use of occult
is a little old-fashioned these days, though, having been superseded in common
use by pagan
and metaphysical.

From
Bradley Sterling:

I was wondering what the word
inventory has to do with invent.

They both come from the Latin verb invenire
"to find". Originally, an inventor was one who discovered,
rather than created, something new. Similarly, by taking an inventory of
all the old boxes in the basement, we discover what treasures they contain.

This original use of invention is now
used only as a theological term. The Invention of the Cross is the name
given to the supposed discovery of the cross upon which Jesus Christ had been
executed. This historical artifact was unearthed by an early,
influential and [dare we say it?] ground-breaking archeologist called Helena.
A Roman Empress, she was the mother of the Emperor Constantine and was later
made Saint Helena for her endeavors. Reading between the lines of a pious
ancient account (translated at Dublin, 1686), this may not have been quite so
miraculous as it might at first appear.

Helena, visiting the Holy Land for the first
time with her son, the emperor, was determined to find the "true
cross". Accordingly, she rounded up 2,000 assorted wise men and
scribes, demanding that they tell her its whereabouts "lest ye dye a bad Death deservedly by my hand".
The wise men, wisely, told her of a young Jew named Judas who knew all about
this cross thing. They then girded their loins and remembered urgent
appointments elsewhere. Judas, when first asked, replied something like "A cross? At Golgotha? Sorry, never heard of it."
Obviously, the fellow had trouble with recall so, improvising a radical
memory-improvement therapy, Empress (and soon to be Saint)
Helena commanded

...that they should cast him into a dry Pit, and keep him for the space of seven days, without giving him any Meat.

Then after seven days Judas cried out with a loud voice, and said, Raise me out of
this pit, and I will shew you the place where the Cross of Christ is.

Then the Empress commanded, and they took him out, and he went to the very
place, although he was not well assured that it was there.

Judas need not have been so
apprehensive. After digging down only 20 cubits they "miraculously"
found a set of three crosses complete with the nails used at the crucifixion. It
should be noted that Golgotha was
Jerusalem's city dump and 20
cubits [that's 30 feet!] of digging should
have turned up any amount of old lumber and nails.

Should anyone wish to light a candle for poor
old Judas, the feast of the Invention of
the Cross is celebrated on May
3rd.

From
Bill Simpson:

What is the origin of
Jesus Christ as swear word?

The use of Jesus Christ!
is quite old but we can't be sure exactly when it began. It cannot have
predated Middle English as, in Old English, haelend
("savior") was used rather than the name Jesus Christ.
Shakespeare has several of his characters say Jesu! but earlier authors
have the longer, and presumably original, oath by Jesus! This old oath
now persists only in "stage Irish" where it has become bejaysus.

James Joyce, with a great
ear for vernacular language, put the words "Jesus wept, and no wonder, by
Christ" into the mouth of one of the characters of his novel Ulysses.
Jesus wept! We've all heard people say the words, but why?
Why should anyone, when in distressing circumstances, offer a sudden
observation regarding the lachrymal habits of their savior? In brief, it's
because John 11:35 ("Jesus wept.")
is the shortest verse in the Bible.

America seems to have been
particularly fond of variants on this theme. First Jesus was shortened
to gee or jeeze. Gee was further elaborated upon to
give gee-whillickers,geewhillickins and gee-whizz.
The ornate forms Jesus H. Christ! and holy jumping Jesus
Christ! were first noticed in 1924.

From
Kenneth Swift, Jr.:

Where does the phrase fiddle sticks come from?
Why and how?

The word fiddle has been used in
exclamations since about 1600. It has been used alone, as fiddle-de-dee
and as fiddle sticks. Unlike modern violin bows which may cost
many hundreds of dollars, a fiddle stick was once emblematic of any
object of negligible worth. In the 17th century, one might not care a
fiddle stick or even not care a fiddle stick's end.

Its popularity as an exclamation may, like fudge
and flip, derive from the mere fact that it begins with F.